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The assault was reported May 19 in the 100 block of Duke of Gloucester Street.

A 21-year-old woman told police she left some bars along West Street, about 1:30 a.m., and was walking along when she was grabbed by a man, pulled into an alleyway and sexually assaulted before the man ran away.

"The guy grabbed her from behind, dragged her into an alleyway and sexually assaulted and assaulted her. She was able to fight back a bit, and he ended up running off," Annapolis police Detective Amy Miguez said.

Police on Wednesday released photos of a person of interest who was in the area at the time of the attack. Investigators pulled the images from a surveillance video from a nearby business.

"Even if this isn't the person involved in the actual assault, he's definitely someone who was in the same area around the time, and we're looking to identify him so we can talk to him," Miguez said.

Police said there were people walking on the same street in the video before and after the man ran by, so they're also looking to jog the memory of potential witnesses. It happened in a downtown area with a lot of people around that time of night.

"It's a very busy area that time of night. There are people leaving restaurants and bars. There are cab drivers driving through all the time to pick up fares, so we're hoping that someone may have seen someone running from the area," Miguez said.

"I think it's devastating. It's a really nice area. We like to come here with our family. It's one of my favorite places in the world, and so it's kind of disturbing to hear that," citizen Susie Smargissi said.